Thanks to the subscription I took at Blockbuster, I got to see The Motocycle Diaries yesterday.

It was one of the few movies I have been wanting to watch for a while and was the first movie I ordered.

The Motorcycle Diaries cronicles the journey taken by the revoluationary cuban / argentenian leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in 1952. A journey taken by the 23 year old Guevara, across South America, a journey which begins as a trip he wants to take before he graduates out of med school to see the countries he has just read about. A journey that ends up changing his perspective of life and shapes his political ideology.

Che Guevara has been variosuly described as being a heroic revolutionary leader responsible for the liberation of cuba and a model for third world socialist revolutions to being a communist leader who ruthlessly exterminated this opponents often without trial and whose ideology and methods were deeply flawed. The perspective depends on who you speak to.

Frankly, I have not read enough to be judgemental about Che Guevara's ideology and that is exactly what I liked about the movie. It brings out the story of a person journeying in the early part of his life and how it changes his perspective about life. It potray's Che Guevara's life but it could easily be anyone's one. Often when potraying the life of such a polarizing personality, the opinions get clouded. This movie avoids it. it does not potray Che - The Hero or the Che - The Villian. It brings out Che - The Person.

Superbly crafted.